The widespread use of digital photography can be credited with an enhanced role for digital imagery as a communications or educational media. While visual media have always been a strong communications channel for educational or other purposes, the increased comfort level amongst key audiences from consumers through to educators with digital photography, digital video and digital image manipulation provides a strengthened role for the use of digital imagery as an educational tool. The use of digital imagery as a demonstrative aid however would be further enhanced by the use or availability of an integrated device which would allow for rapid and user-friendly capture, manipulation and display of images from various sources.
The widespread availability of digital cameras in many different types of electronic devices has further fed the increasing popularity of digital photography. Many different types of hardware devices currently include digital cameras for the capture of still or video images, including cameras themselves as well as portable music players, cell phones and other portable entertainment devices. Widespread availability of digital cameras makes it easy to capture digital photographs or other images for subsequent storage or review.
Even simply as a personal or social tool for the viewing of images, image capture or storage devices have become widely available and easily used. One of the limitations to the use of an image capture or storage device such as a digital camera, smart phone or the like at present is the limited ability to display images on the device in a large digestible format, since those devices typically include only a very small digital display. Particularly where the use of digital imagery was to be incorporated into a larger audience environment such as educational or the like, it is likely the case that the best type of image display or output hardware which could be used would be a projector of some type since this would allow for the provision of a large-format display which many people could view. There are certain digital cameras available which do presently provide for an interface to a television or the like so that the camera could be connected to an external display unit for the viewing of captured digital photographs without the need for uploading those photographs to a computer. However, insofar as even those types of units require the connection of the camera to an external device for the purpose of displaying captured digital images is believed that an integrated display device with a digital camera would be a desirable hardware enhancement.
Overall then having identified some of the platform technologies involved in the use or development of digital imagery in the context of communications or education, it is believed that a digital camera or other image storage device with an integrated image projector represents a novel enhancement over the state of image capture and display hardware available on the market today. Incorporation into that device of storage medium and computer processing hardware which would allow for the display of captured images on the projector as well as for the operation of resident image manipulation software would make the device further desirable. The user interface for image manipulation software resident in such a device could comprise the display and operation of the software and images via the integrated projector, along with whatever human interface device was desired. For example, in terms of the human interface and integrated keyboard, pointing device or the like could also be included, or the ability to connect the integrated device to external human interface devices such as a computer keyboard or mouse could also be provided.